DAY 102; BUCKEYE - PHOENIX, ARIZONA

Welcome to BUCKEYE, ARIZONA, a Western Suburb of PHOENIX, ARIZONA.

We stayed in an empty sandy lot last night in BUCKEYE.



This is HOME. From where I am sitting at the "booth" and table, I have this view of the inside of SPIA. The blue cup is Chardonnay...not cold, but tasty. I sleep up forward in "Mom's Attic".

I write recently about "waste". Here is an example - not out of the ordinary - of what happens with siphon irrigation. Water collects at both ends of the field...and much of it goes to waste, evaporating as it lies useless.

The "drip" method used by the Wine and Fruit growers is FAR more efficient and economical use of available water. It could be easily adapted to "field crops"

This is the top end of the field. Siphon tubes suck water from the concrete canal, spurting it out onto the ground...causing erosion and flooding. It is unusual to see so many siphon tubes in a single group like this. Usually, a single siphon pipe is used for each row of plants.

This Machines is finishing the row and planting seeds in a single pass...optimum use of equipment.

The rows on the left are not complete. The rows on the right with the three tiny channels are complete, including seeds.

Now, only add water and wait.

The field completed, seeded, and waiting for water.

Each row will probably receive a siphon pipe for water. It would be more than efficient to water every other row...but then, who am I...

A unique Mexican Style building that is a Mexican-American Restaurant. When I walked by an hour later, the parking lot was full of cars...lotsa horses at the Hitch'n Post...gotta be good food.

Would have liked to have a bite in there, but budget constraints...and all that !!

A couple Roosters...now perhaps I could sneak back in the dead of night and....

This is where the chickens (parents) live.

A near-by Methodist Church.

and the next door Elementary School House of circa. 1910...town of LIBERTY, ARIZONA.

When I was a kid, this is the way we brought in the hay...one pitch fork full at a time.

I called him a "Gleaner"...he asked ...a What ?

An intersection on busy highway 85 very near the city limit of PHOENIX, ARIZONA.


Notice the smoke in the back ground.

It grew quickly into a real black smoke producing fire...I later drove down there...on 51st Avenue...it is located in a large Oil Storage Property...lucky it did not all go up in flames.

The smoke was gone within one hour.

Alfalfa fields are going the way of the Cactus and Rattle Snakes...

Here comes Industry.

and all the modern office buildings to support it.

I mentioned yesterday the dirth of water in PHOENIX, ARIZONA. The map actually shows two rivers running through PHOENIX. Today I drove over one of them...dry as a bone...nothing but sand...tomorrow I will see the second river.

On nearly every intersection there is at least One large Deep Water Well Pump with at least 10 diameter pipe pouring out water without let up. Some intersections have more than one Pump.

It confirms my theory that PHOENIX is dependent upon the same deep underground lakes of fresh water that the farmers use.

I just hope there is enough water down there to support this Mega-City.

Enough $$ to install "Designer" Sidewalks. That slope to the left is the City's way of making a "Wash" - where rain water goes during a flash flood - into a "designer" object also.

I drove SPIA over one hour all around West PHOENIX looking for a place to park for the night...even an RV Park...NOTHING; absolutely nothing. Signs all over the place prohibiting This...prohibiting That...even prohibiting Parking in big open sandy lots.

Have driven back out into the desert and parked beside a residential road...very busy...very noisy..and probably will be thrown out by one of the two police cars that I have seen on each and every block of this city...they must be prepared for a Resurrection or attack from something...never saw so many law enforcement vehicles in ANY city before.


I am beginning to get the impression that our Society is leaning heavily toward FEAR...fear of what I am not certain...


DAILY REPORT: Walked 30 miles today...in heavy traffic...in the constant Din of passing vehicles...Oh, for the solitude of the silent desert.


SEE YOUR IMPACT.ORG: Credit 30 miles @ $0.02 per mile = $0.60 for the day.

Shari: If you read this, I have lost my access info to my account...H E L P, please.

Was hoping for a contact with my PHOENIX relatives today...did receive one cell message, but no address...no follow up...and there are three folks I would love to see (my Brothers Kids).

Perhaps tomorrow will be fruitful.

If not, I continue my walk through PHOENIX down 51st Avenue and on to EL PASO, TEXAS.

One recent new "friend" advised me to stay away from the Mexican border, especially in and around EL PASO. I am taking it under advisement, but my plan has all along to see for myself what all the fuss is down that-a-way. I even brought along my Passport so I can go into Mexico to have a look and chats with the real folks on the other side of that dried up river.

If I shy away from trouble every time it comes along, what is the use of taking this walk in the first place...I know I'm on pins and needles to see for my self...and to share it all with YOU.